Tough as Death
by midnight darkness2012
Summary: takes place where the exmachina leaves off, only Briareos doesnt come back from Halcon. Deunan has a lot of hate, she feels so guilty, is there anything out there to make her stop feeling this way?
1. Chapter 1

Empty shells littered the floor with a tinkling sound as they hit the cement floor, thousands of shells were already on the floor, each bullet had took their rightful place in a steel target that had been moving quickly in front of the triggerman. When the guns were both empty the triggerman didn't stop there, just simply and in swift movements popped more magazines in both the guns and fired some more. A hand coming from behind the triggerman found itself on triggerman's shoulder,

"That's enough Deunan," the boss giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze, Deunan didn't stop shooting,

"Enough Knute!" the boss barked a command, Deunan put her guns down and stood at attention,

"Yes sir!" Deunan answered strongly.

"Take your leave," the boss explained, Deunan turned on her heels,

"With all do respect boss, I need to train, I need this, it's all I got left, sir," Deunan explained as she put the guns in her leg holsters. Slowly she started to walk away,

"Deunan," the boss shouted, Deunan turned again on her heel,

"Yes sir," Deunan standing at attention again. The boss hesitated to say anything, he knew Deunan still hurt but she wasn't showing it, she had never mourned for Briareos, even at the funeral she held up strong and saluted when they all said goodbye to the empty casket.

"Your performance is improving greatly, good work Deunan," the boss explained,

"Thank you sir," Deunan still standing at attention,

"You are dismissed," the boss explained, Deunan nodded, turned and walked off, Tereus of course had took the spot of being her next partner now. Deunan had gotten over the fact that he looked like her old partner Briareos before he had become a full cyborg but now she had to start from scratch. It had been two months since the Halcon had been destroyed, she had been forced to leave Briareos there, she felt so guilty for leaving him there, it was in their code not to leave each other behind, but the place was falling apart and into the ocean, she and Tereus couldn't very well get Briareos' body to the ship and save themselves too. Every night since then Deunan was plagued with the nightmare, now she was heading to the gym, it was lunch, no one of course would be in there and she hadn't really liked being around the other guys in the squad, she didn't like them looking at her with their pity for her shinning brightly in their eyes.


	2. All Worries

The large gym was in the underground basement, it held a in-ground swimming pool, a weight lifting gym, the lab, and all their equipment that everyone used on their daily patrol. It was cold but that was the nice thing about the gym, if anyone working out started sweating the coldness of the basement would help them cool down, Deunan somehow always had energy to burn, but that was because no matter what time of day it was she always felt guilty for the outcome of the fight they had put up. Looking around finding that she had the whole place to herself,

"Hmm, nice, empty, and awkwardly silent, but we can fix that," Deunan pulling out a see through card, it was almost like a credit card and walked over to the music player in the wall and slid it in the slot, the basement was filled with her workout music, music that everyone found very distasteful, except for Briareos and Tereus, but the basement was soundproof, no music could be heard anywhere else except for the basement. Turning the music up to drown her thoughts of Briareos though it never help very much because she still wore the analog watch that Briareos had given to her, she started her laps around the gym's upper level, she had gotten her mile down a couple seconds but that didn't satisfy her and she would push herself till she had shaved at least 3 minutes off her time. Yoshitsune, the lab tech and the tech for the machines that E.S.W.A.T used everyday was close to Deunan, they were like brother and sister but he had waited for Deunan to come to him and talk, two months he waited but she never came to him. Slowly Yoshitsune walked into the gym and saw her pushing herself, he knew that anywhere, guilt, from the way that she was running he could tell that she had a lot of it. Walking over to the music player he pushed a button on the wall stopping the awful music, Deunan stopped running, she leaned on the railing, her eyes caught Yoshitsune,

"What the hell are you doing in here?" Deunan smirked,

"Deunan, come down here, we need to talk," Yoshitsune shouted. Deunan knew she couldn't escape from Yoshitsune very long, she sighed and perched herself up on the railing.

"Not that way, you'll break your neck!" Yoshitsune shouted, but it was too late Deunan jumped and did her flips and landed in front of him, slowly Deunan stood up,

"What did you want to talk about?" Deunan knowing exactly what was on his mind.

"You haven't came and seen me," Yoshitsune hugging her, she hugged him back,

"I've been meaning to actually but I've been a bit busy trying to get my performance up, now that I lost…" Deunan being interrupted,

"Its alright Deunan, is there anything that I can do?" Yoshitsune strongly. Deunan thought for a minute,

"Actually, there's something you might can do for me, have you ever experienced something so horrible that you have a reoccurring dream about it?" Deunan asked.

"You haven't slept very much, have you?" Yoshitsune seeing the faint rings around her eyes,

"How can I when I just left him up there, I blame myself for not bringing him back with us, I need something to help me sleep," Deunan rubbing her face.

"There's something that might help, it helps me but you will have to sleep here in the lab every night so you can be monitored," Yoshitsune explained.

"So it works," Deunan not knowing if it would help her any, but she was willing to try,

"I sleep like a baby, its worth trying Deunan," Yoshitsune shrugged,

"Can you show me the set up?" Deunan asked, Yoshitsune saw Tereus walk in, he nodded his head.

"Sure, but um, I think you had better talk to someone first, just come to the lab when you get done talking, I'll be there," Yoshitsune explained, Deunan glanced behind her, seeing it was Tereus her eyes quickly diverted away from him, she wasn't able to look at him even.

"Alright, see you in a few," Deunan turning around to Yoshitsune,

"Talk to him Deunan, he is your partner now, and whether or not you like that fact you to have to accept it, he is made from Briareos, he is worried about you too," Yoshitsune rubbing her hand as he whispered to her. Deunan stared at Yoshitsune, she knew he was right and after all Tereus did get her out of Halcon alive. Yoshitsune nodded and let go of her hand and walked away, Tereus in return started walking towards Deunan but she didn't turn around,

"You want to spar with me?" Tereus stopped right behind her, Deunan turned her head to the side, she hesitated and took a deep breath.

"Sure," Deunan not having the heart to open up to him, Tereus got up in the sparing ring and held his hand out for her to take, Deunan stared at his hand and placed her hand in his, he helped her in the ring, they started sparing, Tereus knew she was holding back, she acted weak in front of Tereus, he had gave her a kick to the stomach, now she was on the mat. Tereus bent down,

"Deunan, stop holding back, don't be afraid to give me everything you got, I can take it," Tereus explained, Deunan didn't move, her thoughts were getting to her, she wanted to curl into a ball, Tereus smacked the mat.

"Get up Deunan, get up, you still blame me from taking you away from Briareos and leaving him there, so get up, take your guilt out on me, if you let it fester and swell inside you, it will kill you," Tereus screamed at her. Deunan hesitated and finally jumped up in the air and did a swirling kick and kicked Tereus in the mouth, he flew across the mat, landing on his back, it felt good, Tereus laughed a little as he stood up.

"Come on, I know you got more in you Deunan," Tereus making her fight him, Deunan and Tereus kept fighting, soon they had several of the squad gathering around them watching and more importantly the boss was watching, Tereus fought her giving her everything that he had, Deunan had rage rushing in her body giving her the strength to give Tereus everything that she had also, her fighting style exactly like Briareos'. Tereus managed to trip her up, she landed on her back, she was out of breath, Tereus walked over,

"That was good, come on lets hit the showers," Tereus bending down and reaching out a hand to help her stand, Deunan smirked and closed her eyes and spun around on her back till she had pinned him down on his stomach and she flipped him over on his back and straddled him holding him down, everyone cheered and laughed, the boss even smirked. Tereus smiled up at Deunan, she still hadn't caught her breath, she gave him a small smile and got up,

"Thanks, Tereus, you know for what you did for me up there," Deunan turning her head to the side, Tereus' mouth almost dropped open,

~_She talked, she hasn't talked to me in months_.~ Tereus trying to stand up, he had the help of the ring's side to stand, he watched her get patted on the back and the guys praising her for beating the shit of him, he couldn't help but smile a little. There was a whistle and the room was quiet all of a sudden,

"I have an announcement, we have located Briareos' body," the boss explained. Tereus jumped out of the ring, he had to find Deunan, he knew she wouldn't take it too well, but when he finally pushed through the crowd he found her heading to the pool, he stared at her till she was out of sight, then followed.


	3. One way to get through pain

Tereus waited till Deunan came out in her swimming suit, and watched her swim the length of the pool, he finally decided to sit down on the bottom of the bleachers, he knew her heart had sunk even more hearing that they had finally found Briareos' body. Slowly he rubbed his face,

~_What can I do? I'm her partner and I feel so helpless, I don't know how to help her, and hell it makes it even worse when I look like he used to before the change_.~ Tereus having his hands over his face.

"What are you doing in here?" Deunan snapped, Tereus looked up,

"Deunan, you have to talk to me, I am your partner," Tereus a bit harsh, she was holding onto the side of the pool, she looked at him.

"There's nothing to talk about, Briareos died when he changed into the cyborg, and now he is dead once more," Deunan upset.

"Deunan, you know what I am talking about, let me help you with this," Tereus explained, Deunan knew there was nothing that anyone could do to bring back Briareos,

"There is nothing, Tereus, there's nothing that you can do," Deunan explained softly.

"Deunan, I couldn't leave you up there with him, and you know that Briareos wouldn't have wanted you to die, I just want to help you get rid of all this guilt and pain," Tereus explained. Deunan slowly lifted herself out of the pool from where she was, slowly walked over to him and sat down by him. Seeing his lip bleeding she suddenly felt bad that she had used him as a punching bag, slowly her finger reached out and wiped the blood away,

"I did a pretty good job of kicking your ass huh?" Deunan whispered, Tereus laughed a little,

"Yeah, I'm alright though, you although, you have a lot of rage built up in you," Tereus leaning back against the other bleachers like she had, he glanced at her.

"It felt good though, letting all that rage out," Deunan explained as she glanced at him, he could see the rings around her eyes that were so full of life and even sparkles, like she was the happiness person in the whole world, but the only person that had made her feel like that and act like that was gone. There was that awkward silence again,

"I think I am going to go home," Deunan thinking it was the best thing for her right now, since they had Briareos' body there she came a chance of bumping into it and she knew she couldn't handle that.

"Want me to drive you?" Tereus asked, she patted his leg,

"I just need some time," Deunan quietly, Tereus wanted to scream out at her,

~_Damn it Deunan, you have had all the time in the world to yourself for two damn months! Just let me be there for you already. _~ Tereus screamed out in his head instead. Tereus watched Deunan leave, there had to be a way to get her over this, to help her from falling apart, he decided that after work he would go to her place and bring some beers over. Slowly Tereus got up and hit the showers, when he got out he cleaned his eye and his lip and walked out to report to the boss.

"Hey, boss, where are they keeping Briareos?" Tereus asked,

"He's down in the lab, do me a favor and go check on Deunan, if I know her she doesn't need to be alone right now," the boss explained,

"I planned on going after work," Tereus notifying him,

"I would rather you go now, besides, it's kind of slow today, we have plenty of men to handle things here, stay by the phone though in case I need you," the boss explained,

"Of course," Tereus walking out, he went to see Briareos before he left.


	4. A gift from the past and present

Tereus walked in,

"Hey Yoshitsune," Tereus greeted Yoshitsune, he glanced up,

"Hey Tereus, I'm guessing Deunan went home already huh?" Yoshitsune assumed,

"Yeah, she heard about Briareos being here," Tereus walking over to the cyborg's body.

"Deunan's never going to be able to get over this, its so hard for her, she had to break the code of leaving her partner behind, she feels so guilty, the guilt is eating her insides out," Yoshitsune softly, Tereus knew that, but he couldn't have just left her there, his number one priority was getting Deunan out alive, its what he wanted and he knew that Briareos wanted it to.

"Yoshitsune, can I have a minute with him," Tereus asked,

"Of course Tereus," Yoshitsune nodded and left the lab, Tereus made sure he was gone and sat there talking to Briareos like he was just asleep, that he would wake up any minute and be alive.

"I've messed up Briareos, I don't know what to do with her, Deunan, she didn't want to leave you there, and I knew that we couldn't get out alive with your body, but she is ate up with guilt, and… Briareos, she is dying, if you could see her, she is killing herself over having to leave you, just tell me what I can do to help her, to carry some of her pain, to lessen the shit that she has piled on top of her," Tereus seriously. Nothing, not a word came from the cyborg's body, Tereus noticed the watch had been in perfect condition but the face plate on the watch had cracked, Tereus slipped it off of Briareos and put it in his pocket. Footsteps could be heard entering the lab again, Tereus turned his head to the side and looked down,

"Could he have been saved if we had brought him back with us?" Tereus having to know the truth no matter how painful it was,

"No, there was no way, the cyborg body was burnt to a crisp, there would have been nothing anyone could do," Yoshitsune explained. Tereus closed his eyes,

"I guess it still wouldn't have mattered to Deunan, as long as she hadn't left him up there, but I am the one to blame, I pulled her off of him and made her get on that ship," Tereus explained.

"Tereus, not you too, you have to stay strong for Deunan, if you hadn't pulled her away from him she would be laying here too," Yoshitsune explained as he put a hand to Tereus' shoulder,

"Yeah, but we shouldn't have left him there," Tereus walking into the locker room and changing into street clothes, he pulled his jacket on and checked the pocket, he pulled the box out and opened it up, the locket was still there. Quickly he shut the box and put it back in his jacket pocket and left.

At Deunan's Place

Tereus took a deep breath and got off his bike and grabbed the beers, he walked up to the door and rang the doorbell, Deunan came to the door and opened the door, she leaned on the door, staring at him, there he stood in a plain white t-shirt that was a bit tight on him because of his muscles, wearing his black jacket with the white tribal artwork on one arm of the jacket and black pants with his black boots. Noticing that Tereus had beer, she smirked and with a sad expression on her face,

"Come in old friend," Deunan allowing him to come in, her German Shepard greeted him,

"Max, you been keeping our girl company?" Tereus petting him, he barked,

"Good boy, lets see if I can't help with that," Tereus talking to the dog, Deunan shut the door and took the case of beers from Tereus and got two out and put the rest in the fridge.

"You going to come in and sit or talk to the dog all night, be careful, there's kind of a mess in here and I haven't been able to pick it up," Deunan laying on the couch, Tereus walked into the living room, there were picture frames thrown in the floor and broken glass everywhere, he grabbed a beer from Deunan, he noticed her hand was bloody and saw a baseball size hole in the wall.

"Deunan," Tereus giving her an ugly look as he sat his beer down and quickly ran to the bathroom and got some cleaning supplies for her hand, he came back and sat down on the glass table amazed that it had not been in pieces itself,

"You can't do this Deunan, you can't just go on hurting yourself like this," Tereus serious, he pulled the beer out of her hand and fixed her hand, he made sure no bones were broke or fractured, then finished bandaging her hand.

"Did you see his body?" Deunan whispered, Tereus stared at her, he act like he hadn't heard the question,

"Did you see…" Deunan being interrupted,

"Yes…I saw Briareos," Tereus staring her eyes down with his golden glittering eyes, Deunan looked away.

"I'm sorry Deunan, I should have tried to get him on the ship, now you are …" Tereus shaking his head and being interrupted by her this time, she grabbed his hand, he stared at her,

"No, you did the right thing Tereus, there's no way we could have gotten him on the ship," Deunan strongly, Tereus gently pushed her hair back, she stared at him, he moved to his pocket,

"I thought you might want this," Tereus pulling out an analog watch that matched hers, she gently took in her hands, she threw her arms around Tereus' neck, she shut her eyes tightly.

"Thank you Tereus," Deunan swallowing back the tears, Tereus wrapped his strong arms around her tightly,

"It's not a problem, I got a little something else for you," Tereus pulling out the box from his other pocket, Deunan pulled away from him slowly, she took the box and looked at Tereus, she smirked,

"Go on," Tereus nudging her to open it, she opened the box, she looked the silver locket over, on the front was an inscription that read: I will always protect you, she flipped it over and there was the rest of it; even if the world comes to an end. By this time Deunan started to shake, she glanced up at him, he saw the tears that would never fall, she opened the locket, there inside was a picture of Deunan and her cyborg partner and the other was Tereus with his gold eyes. Deunan had to laugh to keep from crying,

"Looks like a nice little family," Deunan hugging Tereus again, he hugged her back and rubbed her back,

"I mean what the inscription says too, I will Deunan, you are my partner, I am going to protect you," Tereus knowing it was more than likely killing her. Her grip on her hug tightened,

"Hey, let's drink, that's why you came over to cheer me up right?" Deunan pulling away, Tereus smirked,

"Sure," Tereus opening her can for her and handing it to her and he took his can and opened it, he took a swig and sat it down and went and got the broom and swept the broken glass up and threw it out.

"That wasn't necessary Tereus," Deunan explained, he came back over and lifted her legs up and sat down with his beer and put her legs back in his lap,

"No more making holes in the wall or breaking things in your house okay?" Tereus explained,

"Sure," Deunan chugging the beer down, soon she was wasted, it was only 8pm. Tereus stared at her laying on the couch almost asleep, he got up,

"Come on Deunan, its time you tried getting some sleep," Tereus picking her up in his arms, he had thrown her arms around his neck,

"I don't want sleep, it never comes anyways, always those stupid dreams of the past, it's always war," Deunan mumbled.

"Shh, I'm here, I'm not leaving you to sleep by yourself tonight," Tereus walking through the hallway to her bedroom.


	5. Night terrors from the past

Tereus slowly laid her down and got her boots and socks off of her, he gently pulled the covers over her, she looked at the damaged that she had caused to him,

"I'm sorry I hurt you," Deunan reaching up and touching his eyebrow, Tereus leaned over her.

"I'm a big boy Deunan, I can handle it," Tereus kissing her forehead,

"Where are you going?" Deunan grabbing his wrist not wanting him to leave,

"I have to go lock up, I'll be back," Tereus noticing the death grip she had on his wrist. Slowly Deunan let go, he walked back into the living room making sure all the doors were locked and grabbed his gun that he had laid down and walked back to the room, he took his jacket off and t-shirt and laid them both in the nearby chair, he then pulled his boots off and his socks and gently raised the covers and slid down in the bed with her.

"Tereus," Deunan mumbled,

"I'm right here Deunan," Tereus hoping that she would actually get some sleep with him there by her side, she curled up to him and fell asleep, Tereus wrapped her in his arms and fell asleep with her. A couple hours later the dreams of yester years had started to plague her.

"_Deunan, get back," Briareos screamed, she saw the man falling, but she didn't see the live grenade in his hand, the man started falling off the building, Briareos ran and tackled Deunan to cover her. _

"_Deunan, talk to me, are you alright?" Briareos trying to get her to wake up, she blinked a couple of times to get her eyes adjusted, _

"_Briareos, am I… am I alive?" Deunan trying to lift her head, _

"_Yes Deunan, you're alive," Briareos caressing her cheek, _

"_Thank you Briareos," Deunan lying still as she stared up at him,_

"_I will always protect you Deunan, even if the world comes to an end," Briareos softly. _

"_I know you will," Deunan smiled,_

another memory came to her,

"_They are all cyborgs, what the hell is going on here," Deunan walking backward to place her back to Briareos' cyborg body, _

"_Lets ask them," Briareos started firing, Deunan followed suit, with their shells falling to the church's floor by the thousands, Deunan doing her flip between Briareos's guns, finally they had killed all the cyborgs. Briareos walked over to one of the cyborgs and grabbed it up by the collar, _

"_Who are you?" Briareos harshly trying to pump information from the cyborg, _

"_We will all be one, I am Halcon," the cyborg's body lighting up, Briareos backed off, _

"_He's going to blow, move," Briareos turning and running to Deunan and busting through the window. _

Another came….

_They were all at the Hitomi's party, Deunan just found out that Briareos had fully recovered from the church explosion and was returning to work, when Tereus showed up with the boss, Briareos and Tereus were meeting each other, _

"_So, I have my old partner back," Deunan explained to the boss, _

"_I have been meaning to talk you, I'm afraid I need you to partner with Tereus for a bit longer," the boss explained, _

"_No, I wont do it," Deunan shaking her head. Briareos grabbed Deunan's waist, _

"_Deunan, its okay, I'm going to team up with Aeacus for a while," Briareos explained, _

"_What do you mean?" Deunan getting all defensive about it, _

"_Wait, is this some kind of joke because I'm not laughing," Deunan getting upset. _

"_Deunan, think about it, they fixed me twice, who are you going to partner with if they can't fix me a third time?" Briareos holding her arms, _

"_Then I wont partner with anyone," Deunan explained. _

Then came one more….

"_Get Deunan," Briareos flying to stop the doors from shutting, _

"_One step ahead of you," Tereus diving down and grabbing Deunan,_

"_Deunan!" Tereus opening up his suit arms and grabbing her, _

"_Tereus," Deunan grabbing the arms. They flew up to Briareos, _

"_Alright, we eject, then jump through," Tereus telling Deunan the plan, _

"_Alright," Deunan ready, Tereus ejected from the suit, Deunan was flying towards the doors, Tereus flew towards her wrapping his arms around her and pulling her with him and pushing her towards the doors, they both rolled inside just as the door shut. Deunan was dodging the tentacles and saw a tomb-like box with tentacles inside attack Briareos, _

"Briareos!" Deunan screamed out in her sleep, Tereus jerked awake,

"Deunan, wake up," Tereus shaking her a little, she jerked awake and was breathing heavy, her pores were to blame as she was soaked in her sweat, she grabbed Tereus's naked arms, she was shaking,

"Tereus," Deunan softly.

"Its okay Deunan, you're okay," Tereus holding her waist, she couldn't take this anymore,

"Drive me to work," Deunan strongly,

"Why?" Tereus confused,

"That's the only way I will get any sleep," Deunan sitting up. Tereus nodded, he got up and turned to the chair where his clothes were, Deunan stared at the birthmark on his left shoulder, she got off the bed and walked up behind him and touched the birthmark.

"I never get tired of seeing this mark, Tereus, what's happening to me, I feel like I am falling apart," Deunan staring at the mark, he gently put his hand on her hand that remained on his shoulder, she looked at his hand, she leaned her head against his back. Slowly Tereus turned around and held her to him, he rested his chin on top of her head,

"I wont let you fall apart on me Deunan," Tereus strongly. Deunan slowly wrapped her arms around his waist, Tereus closed his eyes, seeing the pain that she was in was starting to take a toll on him,

"Are you sure you want to go to the lab, that's where they have Briareos," Tereus explained.

"No, I'll stay here," Deunan standing there listening to his heart beat, she was still confused by him, why did he know things that Briareos knew, why did he have the same ideas about things like Briareos, did it kill him as bad as it would have killed Briareos if he saw her falling apart like she was right now? Slowly Deunan slid towards the floor, Tereus fell to the floor with her and caught her in his lap. She still had her head against his naked chest,

"I've got you Deunan," Tereus holding her,

"I can't keep it together anymore," Deunan breathing hard, she didn't want him to see her like this, she couldn't fall apart in front of him, it was like falling apart in front of Briareos himself.

"Its okay if you cry, I wont think any less of you Deunan, you need to cry, you'll feel a lot better," Tereus softly,

"No, I can't, I can't do this," Deunan shaking her head, Tereus took her head in both of his hands, he made her look him in the eye.

"Remember that I was created from Briareos' DNA, remember how me and Briareos used to have the ideas, well this Briareos is telling you to mourn, cry your heart out over him and remember he will be with you always, and move on," Tereus strongly,

"Its killing you to see me this way isn't it?" Deunan asked, Tereus stared at her,

"Yes Deunan, because I have no idea how to help you, unless we start training together," Tereus bringing up an idea, Deunan laughed a little, she looked down at her hands,

"It would have been what Briareos would have done, he would have taught me what I was doing wrong, and would make me push myself in everything that I did," Deunan looking up at him.

"Alright then, starting tomorrow I will help you, I will push you, but its going to be far harder than you would be training with Briareos, I am a bioroid Deunan, I can run a lot faster than what you are doing now, I can lift three times more than you can, you are human, you may never succeed to the level I am at right now," Tereus explained,

"So push me Tereus, push me hard, and when I want to give up push me even harder, I want to succeed," Deunan staring up at him. He nodded, slowly he stood up with her in his arms,

"Let me change into something more comfortable," Deunan grabbing some pajamas and heading to the bathroom, Tereus made a phone call,

"Yeah, Yoshitsune, you guys have got to move Briareos' body somewhere, for the sake of Deunan," Tereus explained.

"Just don't let her come into the lab," Yoshitsune explained,

"I don't know how well that's going to work, she's not sleeping too well here, she wanted to come over to the lab tonight," Tereus running his fingers through his long black hair that he had just let down.

"Alright, I'll see what I can do," Yoshitsune hanging up, Tereus hung up the phone and put his gun under the pillow he was planning on sleeping on that night, Deunan came out of the bathroom and crawled back in bed with just a pair of shorts and a tank top on, she stared at him,

"You know you can take your pants off and sleep in your boxers if you would be more comfortable," Deunan explained. Tereus' mouth opened a little,

"Are you sure I wouldn't be stepping over the boundaries there?" Tereus asked, Deunan shrugged,

"What boundaries? You and I are partners, more than likely somewhere down the line we will become lovers," Deunan softly. Tereus slid off his pants, he got under the covers,

"Are you not getting under the covers?" Tereus gently rubbing her arm,

"Tereus, do you have any memory of New Mexico, of the war that me and Briareos fought together in?" Deunan hugging her knees, he could see her arms were ate up with scars and there was a long scar that caught his eye on her leg.

"There is only one strong memory I know of from New Mexico, he saved your life and it was the first time he told you that he would protect you even if the world came to an end," Tereus explained, Deunan nodded,

"The memory came to me tonight in my sleep, even the memory of when I was fighting not to be partners with you," Deunan softly.

"I guess you don't want to try to go back to sleep do you," Tereus sitting halfway up,

"I don't want to remember anymore, the memories of him plague me," Deunan rubbing her face, Tereus thought of something,

"I know something that you could try, I don't know if it would help you sleep better but here, lay down, lay your ear over my heart, and just focus on it beating," Tereus pulling her to him, Deunan liked the sound of his heart beating, in a way Briareos was still alive, she smiled as a tear fell onto his naked chest,

"Shh, its okay Deunan," Tereus playing with her hair just as Briareos would have, but then he softly started singing a song that popped into his head, the same one Briareos would sing when she couldn't sleep.

"Briareos used to sing that to me," Deunan letting her tears pour out,

"Do you want me to stop?" Tereus wrapping his arms around her,

"No, please don't, I like the song," Deunan crying herself to sleep. Soon morning came, Tereus woke up first and saw Deunan was still sleeping, he smiled,

"You are so beautiful Deunan," Tereus whispered as he stared at the ceiling.


End file.
